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ReplayTV users sue entertainment industry
Music Industry News - as it happens
Source: Mi2N - June 7, 2002
"I want to give my nephews and nieces a break from the rampant consumerism
on TV by using ReplayTV's commercial skipping feature," says Craig Newmark,
craigslist.com community founder, ReplayTV user and one of five plaintiffs
in a unique case where ReplayTV customers are suing the entertainment
industry.
Looking for a ruling to protect their rights to skip over commercials and
record television programs for later viewing using DVRs, the other four
members of the group are Keith Ogden, owner of a financial broker firm in
San Francisco, Shawn Hughes, a small business owner in Georgia, Seattle
journalist Glenn Fleishman, and southern Californian video engineer Phil
Wright.
"These Hollywood guys want to stop me from using my digital video recorder
like I use my VCR, like for watching shows when I want or zipping through
commercials," says Newmark.
Represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and San Rafael
lawyer Ira Rothken, the five have filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles
asking the court to rule their use of the ReplayTV device is legal under
copyright law.
"Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to
watch the spots," Turner Broadcasting CEO Jamie Kellner is quoted as saying
in an interview with [INSIDE] Magazine. "Otherwise you couldn't get the show
on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button
you're actually stealing the programming."
LA Central District Court Magistrate Charles F. Eick recently ruled
SONICblue would have to modify its DVR's to collect data on what tv-watchers
watch and to then pass the information to a group including Paramount,
Universal, Walt Disney and Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer; and, CBC, ABC and NBC, all
of whom were suing SONICblue for alleged copyright violations.
However, Eick's decision was overturned by federal judge Florence-Marie
Cooper.
Related News from Mi2N:
» ReplayTV Users: "We Are Not Thieves"
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